Guide Tour of The Lower Lot of Universal Studios Hollywood, California, United States
The Lower Lot of Universal Studios Hollywood, originally part of the front lot, and only a stop on the Studio Tour, the lower lot contained Star Dressing Rooms, and the Special Effects demonstraction stages. The Lower Lot is the smaller of the two lots. There are three thrill rides at this section of the park that each have height restrictions. It is home to Jurassic World: The Ride, Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride and Transformers: The Ride 3D.
The Lower Lot became fully accessible to all theme part visitors in 1991 when the Starway joined the two sections of the theme park together. For a few years, the Studio Tour tram had a loading station under the lowest walkway on the Starway. Visitors came to the Lower Lot back in 1991 to visit The E.T. Adventure and the World of Cinemagic stages, along with an exhibit about Lucille Ball.
Surround with fun and excitement in the Lower Lot of Universal Studios Hollywood for your next banquet or gala reception. With space for a DJ stand and access, the Lower Lot via our private movie lot, turning every entrance into a red carpet affair.
Jurassic World: The Ride, is a water adventure ride that takes visitors through the events of the film Jurassic World, ending with an 84-foot drop. Outside the ride stands the Raptor Encounter, a show that happens throughout the day, and the Dino Play jungle gym area for children too small to ride. Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride is a high speed indoor roller coaster transporting guests through moments reminiscent of the 1999 Mummy franchise. Transformers: The Ride 3D uses high tech technology to simulate a battle between the Autobots and Decepticons with 4K-3D screens and flight simulator ride vehicles. The Lower Lot also features several gift shops and quick service restaurants.
Universal Studios Lot
Universal Studios Lot is a television and film studio complex located at 100 Universal City Plaza in Universal City, California. It is the site of Universal Pictures and is owned by Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. The lot officially opened the gates of Universal City on March 15, 1915. Today the Universal Studios Lot is made up of 400 acres, which includes more than 30 sound stages and 165 separate structures.
On March 15, 1915, Carl Laemmle opened Universal City Studios on a 230-acre ranch in the San Fernando Valley and called it “Universal City”. The site later became known as Universal Studios Lot and Universal City was considered the first self-contained community dedicated to making films.
In 1950, Universal Studios Lot increased its overall size to 400 acres after Universal acquired additional land at the southern border of the studio. Music Corporation of America (MCA Inc.) bought the Universal Studios Lot in 1958. Universal then leased back its property from MCA until MCA and Universal merged in 1962.
Over the next decades, numerous television shows and movies were filmed in Universal Studios Lot, notably at the Courthouse Square and Colonial Street sets.. This includes Psycho (Paramount Pictures), Back to the Future (Universal Pictures), The Perfect Storm (Warner Bros.), War of the Worlds (Paramount Pictures/DreamWorks), Desperate Housewives (ABC), and The Good Place (NBC). Today, Universal Studios Lot is one of the largest full-service production facilities. It has continued to modernize and grow with plans to expand by adding additional soundstages and building facilities. Since 2016, the NBC show American Ninja Warrior has filmed their Los Angeles city qualifiers and finals courses on the lot.
Studio Tour
The Studio Tour is a public attraction both as a VIP and at the adjacent Universal Studios Hollywood theme park that offers visitors a behind-the-scenes look at the historic studio lot. The tour first opened in 1915 when Carl Laemmle invited visitors to see the studio in action. The Universal Tour was halted in the late 1920s and revived in 1964. Since then it has evolved through countless iterations, including new tour hosts, movie sets, and experiences.
Jurassic World: The Ride
Jurassic World: The Ride is a dark ride / water ride attraction that is themed to the Jurassic World series at Universal Studios Hollywood. The original Jurassic Park: The Ride, which operated from June 21, 1996, to September 3, 2018, underwent a major refurbishment and reopened as Jurassic World: The Ride.
The ultimate chance to “Ride the Movies” – Jurassic Park: The Ride started out as a book by Michael Crichton. It became a movie, featuring a theme park called Jurassic Park. Due to the theme park basis for the book, Jurassic Park / Jurassic World was always going to be the most faithful translation of movie to theme park ride ever.
For the moment, the bulk of the rest of this part relates to the Jurassic Park River Adventure (1996 – 2018) The Jurassic Park River Adventure (as it was originally known) first set sail Summer 1996 at a cost of $110 million. It remains the most expensive amusement ride of all time, and actually cost twice as much as Jurassic Park the movie.
In Summer 2019 a new version of the ride will open, featuring new animatronic elements and updated effects. The ride system will be given an overhaul, but due to the massive investment in the basic ride system, it’s believed that this will not change significantly.
Guests enter through the Jurassic World gates and into a series of switchbacks. The queue is designed to look like Isla Nublar from the film. The queue is covered with posters and billboards explaining the dinosaurs at the park. Overhead, video monitors display “Jurassic World Network”, the island’s tv station which shows Dino facts as well as interviews with characters from the movie. As guests approach the loading area, smaller monitors display safety info before guests board their boat.
The ride begins by climbing an initial lift hill, and the boats are taken to the Mosasaurus Aquarium Observatory, encountering a Mosasaurus. Guests then go to a lush, tropical area, where they find a mother Stegosaurus and her baby and encounter a Parasaurolophus before entering Predator Cove, where the riders see carnage has ensued after the Indominus Rex has broken out of its paddock, along with a Tyrannosaurus Rex and some Dilophosaurus.
Riders overhear that the ACU is being called in to round up the escaped dinosaurs, passing by a damaged Gyrosphere and a pair of Compsognathus (or possibly Procompsognathus) fighting over a tourist’s hat. Claire Dearing (played by Howard) comes in over a monitor and tries to comfort the riders, but her feed cuts out before riders traverse another lift hill, where they see the “Indominus Rex” itself spying on them through a hole in the nearby wall. Owen Grady (played by Pratt) then patches in and says to not move out of the boat. He then sends Blue to help the riders escape.
As the boat nears the top of the lift, one of the Raptor Squad holding a chewed wire lunges at guests through a hole in the ceiling. Following attempts by Dilophosaurus to spit venom (actually water) at riders and a close call with the Indominus, the riders meet up with Blue. The Velociraptor guides them to an exit, but the Indominus Rex has made it there first. The Tyrannosaurus then appears and attacks the Indominus, which buys riders the time needed to escape. The boat then goes down a drop of 28 yd (25.6 m), splashing all guests with water once it reaches the bottom and ending the ride. The riders exit the ride into the gift shop.
Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride
Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride, is an enclosed roller coaster located at Universal Studios Hollywood. Its theme is based on The Mummy film franchise, and the ride features linear induction motors (LIMs) that launches riders from standstill to a maximum speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) in a matter of seconds, offers a slightly different virtual experience.
The theme park’s first-ever roller coaster, “Revenge of the Mummy—The Ride” is based on the phenomenally popular “Mummy” films. A state-of-the-art roller coaster, the attraction taps into rider’s primal fears through immersion in a total multi-sensor y environment. Utilizing animatronics, sophisticated motion picture technology, state-of-the-art ride, audio and robotics engineering, the ride preys upon common human phobias: fear of the dark, fear of insects, fear of speed, fear of heights and fear of death to deliver the world’s first psychological thrill ride.
The ride features warrior mummies, treasures and tombs, a sudden launch, a scarab beetle attack, forwards and backwards motion and surround sound speakers inside the vehicles. Hollywood’s coaster was built in the former E.T. Adventure building. Some support beams for the coaster were built by digging downward to accommodate space. Actual props from film series, including their replicated versions can be found in this incarnation; notably the warrior mummies and treasures.
Set in 1944, once guests enter the building’s corridor in to the ride, they first see a hole which air will blast out of every 10 to 15 seconds. When guest move further in, the Book of the Dead is seen. A peep hole is also seen, fenced up by wires, containing a mummified man in his sarcophagus.
When guests move deeper into the building, they find an abandoned archaeological dig which is actually Imhotep’s burial chamber. Looking up ahead in a giant mirror is a pictogram of Imhotep grinning at the guest followed by another pictogram of the guest being chased by Imhotep’s army of mummy soldiers. Further in, riders find an archaeological dig set in a backdrop of 1944. The queue ends in an Ancient Egyptian themed loading platform, complete with hieroglyphs and a large statue of a scarab beetle, in which the riders board mine cart-type coasters.
As the ride begins, riders enter a dark tomb lit with dark green and red fluorescent lights, with a mummy coming to life to the left and hissing at riders. From above, Omid Djalili’s character the Warden Gad Hassan, from The Mummy film (who was thought to have met his fate in the first film), warns guests “Run for your lives! The curse is real! Imhotep lives!” He screams as scarab beetles engulf him. The mine car continues through to a dark chamber, as drops of water fall on guests, and mummies stretch their arms out from each side of the cart while mummified arms appear from the ceiling, trying to grab riders.
The mine car slowly continues into the treasure room, filled with large amounts of golden yellow light, Egyptian hieroglyphs covering the walls, and two gigantic statues of Anubis stationed next to a projector screen, where Imhotep appears from sand in a mural and tells guests, “Serve me and savor the riches of eternal life.” The mine car makes a sharp turn as the yellow room quickly turns a dark shade of green, Imhotep continues his monologue… “And join us in eternal death.”
The mine car moves into the grand gallery as an animatronic Imhotep continues to speak a curse in Egyptian language “Akum ra, akum de,” before exclaiming “Now your souls belong to me… FOREVER!” At the same time, the grand gallery starts to collapse after Imohtep used the powerful curse from the Scroll of Osiris. A wall behind him collapses, forming an eclipse as four more mummy warriors drop down from each side of the track, holding cutlasses in their hands.
The car is then launched at a high speed into darkness as the ride photo is taken. The surround sound speakers in the mine cart provide riders with an added dimension of entertainment, as the sound score begins. The ride continues for 56 seconds in darkness, going around high banked turns and small drops. Various images of mummy warriors and Imhotep are illuminated with ultraviolet lighting as the car twists and turns. The mine car makes a sharp uphill movement and veers left, where the track viciously brakes in a corner.
The second launch is located in this area. Scarab beetles appear on the walls in front of the car with help of projectors, as the added special effects of air jets at riders’ feet and a spray of water from above create the illusion of the vehicle being overrun by the bugs. As a screaming sound effect is heard, the car launches backwards into the underworld as Imhotep’s evil laugh roars on the soundtrack. The vehicle makes a few more twists and turns, while more images of Imhotep and the mummy warriors are lit up as it continues backwards and Imhotep reminds riders “There’s no place to hide! Your souls are MINE!”
The car slows suddenly under the last illuminated painting of Imhotep’s outstretched grasp and moves slowly into another room. A turntable moves the car into a forward-facing position as fog machines and strobe lighting fill the blackened room. As the car faces forward once again, Imhotep appears as a projected image and screams “NOOOOO!” hauntingly at riders before vanishing. There is a second of uncertain silence before a floodlight hits riders, and as a wall lifts up into the ceiling to allow the car to pass through, a second strobe light blinds guests. Imhotep’s curse is broken as the ride enters the loading platform.
Transformers: The Ride – The Ultimate 3D Battle
Transformers: The Ride 3D is a 3D dark ride located at Universal Studios Singapore, Universal Studios Hollywood, Universal Studios Florida and Universal Studios Beijing. The ride, based on the Transformers film franchise. The dark ride consists of motion platform-mounted vehicles which follow a 2,000-foot-long (610 m) track. Throughout the ride, screens up to 60 feet (18 m) high project 3D images of various Transformers characters as the Autobots attempt to protect the AllSpark from the Decepticons.
This new dark ride-style attraction has replaced Backdraft and the Special Effects Stages on the Lower Lot. The shells of the historic soundstages which housed those attractions remain (Stage 30 and Stage 32), but the interiors of the stages have been totally replaced. The ground-breaking attraction uses ride vehicles features very high quality digital 3D projection and a number of practical special effects.
Riders enter the queue from the Sci-Fi City themed area of Universal Studios Singapore, the Lower Lot at Universal Studios Hollywood or Production Central at Universal Studios Florida. The first portion of the queue is a large collection of switchbacks. The later part of the queue is themed as a Nonbiological Extraterrestrial Species Treaty (NEST) base.
A series of signs and video screens are located within this area. The video screens play briefings from General Morshower, Ironhide, Wheelie and Ratchet, who explain that the Decepticons have come to Earth in search of the AllSpark and are attacking the NEST base in order to recover the fragment stored there. Optimus Prime concludes the briefing by introducing all of the Autobots that are featured in the ride.
Towards the end of the queue, guests are given a pair of 3D glasses. Once guests arrive at the loading station, they are grouped and loaded into a ride vehicle modeled on an Autobot named Evac, whose mission is to take the AllSpark to safety with navigational help from a squad of NEST recruits (the riders).
The ride begins with Evac moving out of the loading station and making a turn. The vehicle approaches the first of thirteen 3D high-definition video screens which depicts Ravage grabbing a canister containing the AllSpark. Evac spins 180° to face the second screen on which Bumblebee is fighting Sideways for the AllSpark, which ends up in Evac’s possession. Evac reverses into one of two elevator shafts which ascend to the second level of the attraction. During the ascent Optimus Prime battles Megatron and Grindor chases Evac who is furiously heading in reverse until Grindor’s arm is broken off by a train. Megatron grabs Evac and the two struggle until Megatron breaks a water pipe, which sprays riders with water.
Evac enters a dead end pathway before reversing and turning to face another 3D screen, which shows Megatron firing a missile at Evac while continuing to fight Optimus. Hot air and fog generate the illusion of an explosion. Evac then heads through the hole in a building which was caused by the explosion. Inside lies Devastator, who is trying to suck everything out of the building. Ratchet and Ironhide open fire at Devastator while Evac reverses to escape the suction and continues moving when Devastator stops. Here the Autobot Sideswipe helps in the battle against the Decepticon Bonecrusher. Devastator returns to the scene with the vortex opened. Evac activates his “battle shields” and pulls himself through it.
Once ejected from Devastator’s “behind”, Evac is caught by Starscream from his grappling hook-like tool. Starscream then throws him across several city blocks before landing on a construction site and smashing into some drums which release clouds of fog resulting in Evac asking if the riders are okay. Optimus Prime and Megatron continue their battle in the construction site as Evac reverses away in an attempt to protect the AllSpark. Starscream appears for a second time but is chased away by two NEST helicopters.
Evac then rotates to another section where Megatron then appears, reaching out for Evac. He is then foiled by Optimus who jumps from out of view, tackling Megatron and holding him on the edge of a building, and that’s when Evac charges towards Megatron and forces the AllSpark into Megatron’s chest causing both to freefall to the ground when Megatron grabs Evac. Bumblebee then saves Evac from destruction while playing James Brown’s “I Feel Good” at the verse ‘I got you.’ Optimus Prime then reports Evac in, and acknowledges him on the success of the mission. The last thing guests see before disembarking is the twisted wreckage of Megatron stuck in the ceiling near the exit.
Once the ride is complete, riders dismount the Evac vehicle at the unload station. Upon exiting the ride, guests are greeted with the Transformers Supply Vault gift store, which sells items from the Transformers film franchise, Transformers: The Ride merchandise and a variety of Transformers toys, including a toy of Evac exclusive to the ride.
Universal Studios Hollywood
Universal Studios Hollywood is a film studio and theme park in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles County, California. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood film studios still in use. It was initially created to offer tours of the real Universal Studios sets and is the first of many full-fledged Universal Studios Theme Parks located across the world.
The magic of movie-making comes to life at the park, which combines the quintessential Hollywood movie experience with frogtastic theme park attractions and shows. Exciting attractions include The Wizarding World of Harry Potter, DreamWorks Theatre Featuring Kung Fu Panda and Despicable Me Minion Mayhem.
Universal Studios Hollywood is divided roughly in half between upper and lower lots. Outside the theme park, a new, all-digital facility near the Universal Pictures backlot was built in an effort to merge all of NBCUniversal’s West Coast operations into one area. In 2017, the park hosted 9.056 million guests, ranking it 15th in the world and 9th among North American parks.